Gay man who was victim of homophobic attack in Shoreditch: 'I will not let my attacker win'

The victim of a homophobic attack says he will not let the assault stop him from walking freely in London’s streets.

Timothy Rumney, 29, has urged other victims of hate crime to report their attackers to police after a man hit him in the face while he waited for a bus with his partner following a visit to gay club East Bloc.

The couple were walking along Old Street during the early hours of Sunday morning when they overheard a man with his girlfriend referring to them as “batty men” - a derogatory slang term for homosexuals.

When he challenged the man, Mr Rumney claims he asked them why they were holding hands. Minutes later, the same man approached the pair as they waited for a bus on Kingsland Road and hit Mr Rumney around the face.

He was left with swelling to his cheek and lip but did not require hospital treatment.

Despite his ordeal, Mr Rumney, a retail buyer who works in the area but lives in Stoke Newington, said he would not let the attack deter him from being open about his sexuality.

Speaking to the Standard, he said: “I have never been attacked or bullied at school because of my sexuality. It is the first thing [of this kind] that has happened to me.”

Injured: Timothy was left with swelling to his lip

When asked whether he was now scared to walk on the capital’s streets, he said: “I am proud to be with my boyfriend. If anything it has driven me the other way. I do not feel that it has made me feel any different about being by myself or being around London.”

He added: “The area has a lot of CCTV. I reported the bus number and where he was standing. I did not feel under any sort of threat. There was no thought that I was really in danger. I did not expect it to happen.”

He said he challenged the man’s comment because he wanted to defend himself and his boyfriend.

Describing the attack, he said: “I am not normally one to put myself out there but because I was with my partner I said ‘Mate, what are you on about?’

“He answered ‘Why are you holding hands?’ And I said; ‘Because he is my boyfriend’. About five minutes later he was walking towards the bus stop. He came straight up to me and asked why my problem was.

“I said ‘are you going to apologise because you were using offensive language?’

“I said ‘leave me alone’. And because I turned around to speak to my boyfriend he hit me on the left side of my face. Then he ran on to the bus with his girlfriend.”

He added the assault had left him convinced that more hate crime victims should report their attackers.

He said: “It should not be a case of we should not report it. No one should be on that side at all.

“I might not have reported it if I had been on my own. But [the man] should not be using that kind of terminology. He did not like me calling him out on it.”

Scotland Yard confirmed it was investigating allegations of a homophobic assault in Old Street at the junction with Kingsland Road at 3am on Sunday.

Detectives are understood to be reviewing CCTV footage of the incident as part of their investigations.

They are hunting for a slim black man in his late 20s, who is about 5’8” with stubble. He was wearing a dark waistcoat and a trilby hat. He was with a white woman with brown hair, described as being in her early 20s. She was wearing a blue and white striped dress.